Charleston is a foodie’s dream town. One could make a solid argument that Charleston restaurants have the cachet of the best in New York City, with merely an exorbitant price tag, not an extra exorbitant one. And on the lower end of the food spectrum, after many visits northeast to the in laws over 10+ years I will make the bold statement that Charleston now has the finest pizza and I given up the idea of trying to find a better slice up north.

But I digress. The James Beard Award ceremonies will be held May 3 and 6 in New York City. They are often referred to as “the Oscars of food.” They award food journalism, photography, restaurant design, and of course, chefs! The nominees were announced in Charleston at Lowndes Grove Plantation and of course there were some local names on that list.

In Charleston, The Ordinary (Mike Lata’s seafood and oyster restaurant on King St.) is nominated as Best New Restaurant, McCrady’s chef Sean Brock is nominated for Outstanding Chef, and Nathalie Dupree is nominated for the American Cooking Book award for Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking co-written with Cynthia Graubart. Both Lata and Brock are previous award winners for Best Chef in the Southeast.

Dunes Properties wishes everyone great luck. And while we’re at it, let’s plug an extended member of the Dunes Properties family’s cookbook. Dunes co-founder Betty Poore’s cousin Lisa Dupar is a chef in Seattle and has this tasty cookbook out Fried Chicken and Champagne . It’s quite popular around the office.